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The Deadliest Stunt
The Deadliest Stunt (originally to be entitled The Amazing Case of Lind'z Rider) is the 13th book in The Hardy Boys Graphic Novel series. It was published on May 27, 2008 by Papercutz. Plot summary After breaking up a charter boat kidnap ring, Frank and Joe Hardy return to Bayport and school. At school Brian Conrad is injured, in a bike accident, and is taken to hospital. Before the ambulance driver leaves he slips Joe a video game disk – from ATAC. The video tells them about America's top teen stuntwoman, Lindsay Rider, as well as other stuntwomen, TV star Danielle Pinzlovia of Europe, Canada's Red Maddison, and Asian stuntwoman Wendy Wen. The Hardys learn that a national competition is going to be held to determine which of the world's top four stuntwomen is the best. And, much to their displeasure, they also learn that, because the contest is exclusively for young woman, ATAC has decided that for this mission, they will not be the main agents on the assignment. Instead they are back up...for Lindsay Rains, more commonly known as Lindsay Rider. Many uncut diamonds have been recently stolon from the 'River of Diamonds' in Africa, the world's largest source of diamonds. Apparently the person responsible for fencing these diamonds is one of the three stunt competitors, and she'll use the stunt competition as the cover to commit her crime. For this mission ATAC provides the Hardy boys with protective jump suits and a video camera, capable of projecting holographic images, for up to thirty seconds. When Frank and Joe arrive at the event, they discover that the course has been made to look like alien landscape. They soon meet Lindsay, who tells them a little more about the case, and it turns out she still doesn't have any clues on which one of the other girls is responsible. Before they can talk any further, they are interrupted by Jeremy Haftel, a young boy who is the host of the games, who invites them to them to dinner with the other contestants. Joe, already upset at being back-up and having just been called Lindsay's 'worker bees', is even more upset when they have to change into red, white, and blue body suits that match Lindsay's outfit. At the dinner, Joe meets Red Maddison and Wendy Wen, who trick him into thinking they are having a fight; however, their 'fight' turns out to be a stunt. Before the night is over, Frank and Joe are tricked by stunts two more times, while still at the dinner and later at stunt course. With no progress on the case and having been made a fool of three times that night, Frank and Joe are getting very frustrated, and Lindsay telling them to stay out of her investigation doesn't help. But when Frank finds a hidden door, the boys think they have finally got a lucky break, only to discover nothing but a large maintenance room. Joe's stumped but as always Frank has a plan – go to bed. In the boys' hotel bedroom, Joe states that he hates the case''.'' The next morning, having come to terms with their role on this mission, Frank prepares Lindsay's car, before the first event, while Joe is busy with their video camera. After thanking the brothers for getting with the program, Lindsay heads out on to the track. To no one's surprise Lindsay is in the lead, when an unregistered fifth car enters the race. The car crashes into Lindsay's car and then speeds toward Frank and Joe. The Hardys race toward the nearby utility garage. This doesn't stop the mystery car however, which continues toward the brothers. The car wipes-out, smashes through the garage, and explodes in a fire ball. Frank and Joe survive only thanks to their ATAC nanotech suits. They discover no driver in the car, and Frank realizes that it must have been remote controlled. Once clear of the burning wreckage, the Hardy boys see Lindsay's car parked – empty, and head over to investigate. Not far from the car in the course's forest, the Hardys hear a heated conversation coming from behind a nearby waterfall. Behind the waterfall Linday is being held at gun point by a big man, who she is informing made a mistake when he used a radio controlled car as a distraction. Knowing that you would need a clear site line to operate it, Lindsay had discovered him here. By this time Frank and Joe are just outside the waterfall and are just about to make a surprise entrance when the criminal turns off the waterfall, by remote control, revealing their hiding place behind the wall of water. Apparently the man was warned that two of ATAC's best agents would be working at the contest, and guessing that the two most recent additions were them, tried to kill Frank and Joe with the car. Lindsay reveals that it was actually ATAC who leaked the information about the Hardys, knowing that the man - a world renowned fence known as Thomas Wadsworth – would give himself away by attacking them. It seems Wadsworth has been smuggling contraband through these teen competitions for months now. Wadsworth is just about to shoot the three ATAC agents when Jeremy appears swinging a stick. This distracts Wadsworth long enough for the teens to make their move; Frank and Lindsay take him down, with Joe quickly disarming him. Joe turns to Jeremy to thank him but to also warn him of how dangerous his actions, to Joe's surprise, the boy disappears into thin air right in front of his own eyes. Joe turns when someone calls his name and sees Jeremy standing outside, holding the Hardy boys' ATAC holoprojector. It turns out Jeremy is too young to be an ATAC agent but is in the training program. The police arrive, along with Fenton Hardy, to pick up the fence. Joe asks his father why he in his brother were kept in the dark on this case and Fenton tells them, saying that ATAC was afraid if Frank and Joe knew about Jeremy, they would be to inclined to help, possibly undermining the whole training exercise. Frank and Joe were involved only in case Lindsay and Jeremy needed help, and so were given nothing but a red herring of a mission. In Bayport, Brian Conrad, still in the hospital, awakens to find a riding helmet on his bedside table. Then he sees Frank in the room, who tells him the helmet is an extra of his, and that he can have it, since he wouldn't want to see any thing happen to Conrad, as "He'd have to find a whole other boneheaded jock to make his life miserable." Frank is going to leave but Brian asks him to wait, then, pointing toward a textbook next to his bed, mentions that he still can't read, and that he has an exam on Monday. Frank picks up the book and starts reading. Appearances Characters *Brian Conrad *Guildenstern *Jeremy Haftel *Fenton Hardy *Frank Hardy *Joe Hardy *Laura Hardy *Red Maddison *Chet Morton *Prince Mubari *Nicole *Nigel Penhurst (appears in flashback) *Danielle Pinzlovia *Lindsay Rider *Rosencrantz *Tom Stoppard *Thomas Wadsworth *Wendy Wen Locations *Africa (appears in video) **River of Diamonds (appears in video) *Bayport **Bayport High **Bayport Hospital Businesses and organizations *American Teens Against Crime *Charter Boat Kidnap Ring *Nascar Other *ATAC gadgets **Holoprojector **Nanotech Suit **Protective Oceanic Device *''Hamlet'' (play) *Miss Teen Stunt Americana (competition) *''Rosencranz and Guilentern are Dead'' (play) References The Hardy Boys Graphic Novel The Deadliest Stunt (2008) External links *HardyBoysCasefiles.com *Papercutz Official Site *Buy The Deadliest Stunt on Amazon Category:Books Category:Graphic novels